CEBU CITY, Philippines — The National Grid Corp

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) lifted the red alert over the Visayas power grid Thursday afternoon, easing fears of possible power interruptions even as the system remains under yellow alert until 10 p.m.

The NGCP said in an advisory issued at 1 p.m. that the red alert was lifted as of 12:45 p.m., after peak demand had slightly decreased to 2,354 megawatts (MW) against available capacity of 2,532 MW.

READ: Visayas grid placed under red alert for 2nd day

The reprieve follows a red alert declared earlier in the day, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., that had raised concerns of possible rotating brownouts across the region.

Meanwhile, yellow alerts will remain in effect from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and again from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., driven by the unavailability of large coal plants, including Therma Visayas Inc.’s units 1 and 2, as well as a recent outage at the 135-MW Panay Coal Power Corp. plant.

A yellow alert indicates that while supply can still meet demand, the operating margin is too thin to cover the grid’s contingency requirement — meaning an unexpected plant shutdown or a sudden demand spike could still force supply interruptions.

READ: NGCP weighs next steps on new ERC transmission rules

Grid operators continue to closely monitor real-time supply and demand conditions through the evening, when consumption typically peaks.

NGCP again urged consumers, especially large industrial and commercial users, to use electricity efficiently during the remaining yellow alert hours to help preserve the grid’s operating margin.

The grid operator advised the public to stay alert to official updates as conditions could still shift before the yellow alert period ends at 10 p.m.

NGCP said it would continue coordinating with power plant operators to hasten the return of units still undergoing repairs.

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